When San Francisco 49ers fans think of their team's wide receiver room heading toward training camp, names like Mike Evans, Christian Kirk, De'Zhaun Stribling and Ricky Pearsall should dominate the conversation. And when the same talk turns toward the bottom of the depth chart, names like Demarcus Robinson, Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins probably come up.
Colton Dowell's name certainly isn't one that'll get mentioned much, if at all.
For those unaware of Dowell's presence on the Niners' 90-man offseason roster, he came aboard back in January on a reserve/futures contract after stints with both the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens.
He originally broke into the league as Tennessee's seventh-round pick of the 2023 NFL Draft out of UT Martin where he played his college ball, and the 6-foot-3 and 212-pound receiver actually got into 10 games his rookie season, notching a catch for 3 yards on offense while contributing frequently on special teams.
Dowell hasn't seen regular-season action since then, though.
Colton Dowell faces the longest of long shots to make 49ers' 53-man roster
After losing Jauan Jennings to the Minnesota Vikings via free agency, it's not too hard to see why Dowell's presence was needed. As a big-bodied receiver with good special teams prowess, Dowell could at least serve as a depth receiver in a Jennings-like role during offseason workouts.
But that was before San Francisco used its first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft on Stribling, who's effectively a much faster version of Jennings but brings the same blocking prowess.
The 49ers won't bother wasting a spot on the 53-man roster for a would-be Stribling backup, especially not with Evans, Kirk and Pearsall already poised to take a slot.
Instead, Dowell finds himself in competition with other deep-fringe receivers like Malik Turner, Will Pauling, Wesley Grimes and Junior Bergen, none of whom figure to make the 53-man roster but have an outside shot for a spot on the practice squad.
Even then, there may be only one or two designated spots for wide receivers on the practice unit, and Dowell faces stiff competition there, too, meaning there's just as good a chance he's seeking employment elsewhere when September rolls around.
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